Angels Landing Trail
Angels Landing Trail, Hurricane, UT
Springdale, UT
A knife-edge fin of sandstone rising 1,500 feet above Zion Canyon, its final half-mile a chain-assisted scramble along a spine with sheer drops on both sides.
Angels Landing is one of the most famous and most demanding day hikes in the national park system, a climb to the top of a towering sandstone fin that stands about 1,500 feet above the floor of Zion Canyon. The route gains that height fast, first up a paved trail and a tight set of engineered switchbacks, then along a narrow rock spine where steel chains bolted into the stone are the only handhold between the trail and long drops on either side.
The reward at the summit is a view few places can match, straight down the green length of Zion Canyon with the Virgin River winding far below. Because the final ridge is so exposed and so popular, the Park Service now runs a permit lottery for the chained section, a system meant to protect both hikers and the trail. It is a hike that asks for a steady head and good judgment, and rewards them fully.
What Guests Love
- The heart-pounding final ridge, gripping chains along a narrow spine with the canyon falling away on both sides
- The steep engineered switchbacks of Walter's Wiggles carved into the cliff
- A summit view straight down the length of Zion Canyon to the Virgin River far below
- The sense of achievement that makes it one of the most talked-about hikes in the country
Worth Knowing
- A permit obtained through the park's lottery system is required to hike the final chained section to the summit
- This is a genuinely exposed hike with steep drop-offs and is not suitable for anyone uneasy with heights
- There is no shade on the upper route, so summer heat is serious; start early and carry plenty of water
- The chains can crowd, so wait for oncoming hikers at narrow points and turn back if conditions feel icy or wet
Details
Springdale, UT
Learn about Angels Landing Trail
The route to the top
The hike begins at the Grotto shuttle stop, crosses the Virgin River, and climbs steadily up a paved trail that hugs the canyon wall. It passes through Refrigerator Canyon, a cool, shaded cleft that offers a welcome break, before reaching Walter's Wiggles, a set of twenty-one tight switchbacks carved into the cliff in the 1920s and named for Zion's first superintendent. These deliver hikers to Scout Lookout, a broad saddle with a big view and a natural turnaround point for those who want it.
From Scout Lookout the trail changes character entirely. The final half-mile follows the exposed spine of the landing, where fixed chains help hikers up and along a ridge that in places narrows to just a few feet wide with sheer cliffs on both sides. It is slow, hands-on travel, made trickier by two-way traffic on the chains, and it is here that a permit is required.
How the permit lottery works
Because the exposed final ridge drew crowds that made the narrow chains dangerous, the Park Service put the chained section behind a permit obtained through a lottery. Anyone who wants to continue past Scout Lookout to the summit must hold a valid permit, while the trail up to Scout Lookout itself remains open to all without one.
The lottery runs in seasonal advance drawings as well as a day-before option, so hikers plan ahead or try their luck the day before a visit. Details and timing shift year to year, so the best move is to check the park's current instructions well before your trip and have a backup plan, since a hike to Scout Lookout alone still delivers a tremendous view.
Hiking it safely
Angels Landing has a real safety record behind its reputation, with falls having occurred over the years, and the exposure is not exaggerated. Hikers who are uneasy with heights, or hiking with young children, are wise to make Scout Lookout their summit and enjoy the same canyon from safer ground.
Timing and weather matter enormously. There is almost no shade on the upper route, so the summer sun turns the rock into an oven by midday, making an early start essential. Wet, icy, or windy conditions make the chains treacherous, and it is always better to turn around than to press on. Steady footing, patience at the crowded pinches, and plenty of water are what carry people up and down safely.
The rock beneath your feet
The fin you climb is Navajo sandstone, the same pale, cross-bedded rock that forms Zion's soaring walls, laid down as an immense field of desert dunes roughly 180 million years ago and later cemented into stone. The sweeping diagonal lines visible in the rock are the fossilized faces of those ancient dunes.
Angels Landing was carved out as the Virgin River and its side canyons cut down through the sandstone, isolating this narrow spur as a freestanding fin high above the canyon floor. The river is still at work far below, and the landing is a snapshot of that slow, patient erosion, a blade of rock left standing while the canyon deepened around it.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Springdale
Scout Lookout
The saddle below the summit
A broad overlook at the top of Walter's Wiggles with a sweeping canyon view, reachable without a permit and a fine turnaround.
The Narrows
About 2 miles up-canyon
Zion's celebrated slot-canyon hike straight up the Virgin River between towering walls, reached from the end of the shuttle road.
Springdale
At the park's south gate
The gateway town along the Virgin River, with galleries, restaurants, and the shuttle connection into Zion Canyon.
The Grotto
At the trailhead
A shaded picnic area among cottonwoods on the canyon floor and the shuttle stop where the Angels Landing hike begins.